MLK SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF STRIKING SANITATION WORKERS
Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.* delivered a speech at Mason Temple here in Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers**.
The civil rights leader spoke specifically about the strike but also generally about the movement. He said, "the cry is...'We want to be free!'"
The best remembered part of the address came at the end when Dr. King said...
"But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountain top...and I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land."
He said that although he might not get there with them,
"as a people we will get to the promised land."
*Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was born in Atlanta, Georgia & earned his B.A. at Morehouse College, Divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary & PhD at Boston University. He was pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta & acknowledged leader of the civil rights movement. MLK was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
**1300 African-American employees of the Memphis Department of Public Works were striking for better pay & working conditions. They wore placards with the words "I AM A MAN!"
LBJ sent undersecretary of Labor James Reynolds to Memphis to help resolve the strike which ended on April 16, 1968 with the city's agreement to issue raises to the employees & recognize their union.
JFK+50 NOTE
The April 3rd address by Dr. King has been christened "The Mountaintop Speech." Dr. King was emotionally drained at the end of it and had to be helped to his seat. He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis the following day.
SOURCES
"I've Been to the Mountaintop," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., AFSCME, www.afscme.org/
"I Have Been to the Mountaintop Speech Transcript, Martin Luther King, Jr.," REV, www.rev.com/
"I AM A MAN"